FlipSide

SoundBytes

Apr 02, 2007

The following are quotes taken from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on potential allegations of wrongdoing by Lurita Doan, administrator of the General Services Administration.

“The problems at GSA may reflect the larger debate about the [Inspector General] Act. The administrator’s quarrel seems to be with the IG Act, which provides for an independent office to conduct credible and thorough investigations and audits. This debate, however, is one that belongs in Congress, not within federal agencies.”— Brian Miller, GSA inspector general

"
I listened to you not remember and not remember and not remember.… I find you’re being evasive on this, in all candor.”— Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

"Like Jimmy Stewart in ‘Mr. Smith,’ I stand here — I’m going to be honest — I’m facing a gazillion allegations here.… But the curious thing is that all of these allegations stem from a single source, and all of them became public as a direct result of my attempt to impose fiscal discipline throughout GSA.” — GSA Administrator Lurita Doan

“The White House briefing was partisan and it was strategic and it had no connection to GSA’s mission.… This appears to be a textbook example of what should never happen at a federal agency.”— Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, referring to allegations that White House political operatives held a meeting with 40 GSA political appointees, potentially in violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits agencies from involvement in political issues.

“Apparently hell hath no fury like an IG scorned. Rather than audit results or investigative findings, he brings us anecdotes, conjecture, innuendo and invective to impugn the judgment and character of the GSA administrator.”— Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), ranking member, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.